Grants designed to save charm

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A facade grant was approved for Centerpoint Wealth Management on Main Street but denied for Carpenter Realtors across the street.
A facade grant was approved for Centerpoint Wealth Management on Main Street. (Photo by Julie Osborne)

Downtown Zionsville is known for its quaint feel, brick Main Street and historic buildings. In 2008, the Zionsville Town Council established the Downtown Façade Rehabilitation Program to help the buildings in the downtown business district preserve that original character.

“Zionsville derives a lot of its character and charm from its buildings. Those buildings are getting older by the day, and by their nature of being 100-years-old have more than their fair share of challenges, from aging to being modified in different ways,” David Rausch, president of the Zionsville Architectural Review Committee, said. “This program gives owners the opportunity to reinvent the building and enhance them by returning them to the things we all saw and liked originally.”

The seven-member ZARC oversees the program, which has a yearly grant Screen Shot 2013-05-10 at 11.23.48 AMfund of $50,000 from the food and beverage tax. Only businesses located in the downtown business district are eligible to receive grant money and, if awarded, can receive grant funds up to 50 percent of the total cost of the proposed repairs.

Rausch, who has been a member of the committee for four years and owns his own architectural firm downtown on Oak Street, said that usually around three businesses apply for grants per year, with two receiving money. He said the average grant size is typically around $25,000.

CIZ-ComFacadeDenied
Carpenter Realtors was denied a facade grant.

Jennifer Blandford, managing broker at the Zionsville branch of Carpenter Realtors, recently moved her office to the old Village Clock Shop building at 5 N. Main St. Blanford said she submitted a façade grant proposal for wood rot repair and a full paint job for the building, but was denied because her repairs “weren’t in the scope of the program.”

“From day one, this program has not been designed to be a paint up, fix up maintenance program,” Rausch said. “It’s really more about enhancing the building, and reestablishing the building itself and how it contributes to the village.”

Rausch said Centerpoint Wealth Management at 56 N. Main St. was recently approved for a grant project. The business is using the money to help improve the two entrances of the building on Main Street and First Street, and reconstructing the building’s trim, columns and porch.

“A program like this isn’t unique to Zionsville, but it helps preserve the town’s charm and helps foster improvements,” Rausch said.

 


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